Cosmopolitanism as a Potential Theoretical Solution to the Challenges of Globalised Urbanisation

Abstract

This paper contributes to the effort to formulate strategies for approaching the challenges of twenty-first century “globalised urbanisation.” The paper hypothesises that cosmopolitanism might be seen as an option when trying to understand and resolve problems associated with globalised urbanisation within the scope of the United Nations’ Habitat III policy framework. In the context of the United Nations’ Habitat III (New Urban Agenda) policy framework, culture and cultural diversity are recognised as sources of enrichment for humanity and provide an important contribution to the sustainability of cities (UN-Habitat 2016:4). In addition, the policy framework supports the core aspect of cosmopolitanism through its critical perspective towards achieving a transformative vision of an alternative society. This paper focuses on UNESCO’s 2016 report entitled Culture: Urban Futures as an example of this idealised cosmopolitanism. Concerning the methods, I use cosmopolitanism as a theoretical concept (which, at the same time, is also used as a “methodological tool”) with which I frame and interpret my analysis of the empirical data (i.e. the policy reports). This paper supports the argument that cosmopolitanism is a theoretical framework concerning identity and citizenship in the contexts of “globalised urbanisation”: by using it, people formulate their individual and collective identities without binding them to a nation-state or ethnic groups.